The cost of food has risen and the overall quality has dropped.
Much of the fruit and vegetables being sold in the supermarkets may look good, but the taste is somewhat lacking. Considering these issues, it is fair to say that there could not be a better time to grow your own food, as well as make, cook and bake your own food!
Today I have been harvesting potatoes and clearing the beds for the next planting or simply for mulching down with cardboard and straw.
The compost heap is growing by the day as the beds are cleared and tidied.
Elsewhere in the gardens, the burgeoning beds await their turn to be harvested.
This Golden Oregano will dry nicely and ensure tasty tomato sauces all winter!
This is a sheltered part of the fruit gardens to leave the potatoes in the ground for a while to come.
Those at the back of the picture will stay where they are.
You may remember how I mulched this ground last Autumn, using cardboard, straw and shreddings…now you can see the value of this exercise.
The earth is in good condition and any weeds that did grow were very easy to pull.
This gives you some idea of how permaculture works…a forest garden with lots of shelter, biodiversity and ultimately, resilience!
Lots of leaf drop feeds the soil, building a much needed fertility.
Meanwhile, indoors, one of the few electrical items I own is ready to do a lot of sewing.
I also have a hand sewing machine for less labour intensive tasks.
And in the kitchen I’ve been baking bread and making Houmous Dip.
There really is no comparison to home made and home grown food!
It’s great to see such abundance. I’m working towards that, too. My crops have grown better the more I feed the soil with organic material, and the more balanced the garden for encouraging the wildlife. I enjoy your blog, thank you.
Home grown is best for many reasons… such good eating in Summer months especially… I am harvesting and making all kinds of things with tomatoes just now in North Carolina… and having some creative fun with it too.. sue womenlivinglifeafter50.com
it’s great to see what others are doing in their gardens and with home made produce…thanks Sue.
Blessings X
Just today I prepared our dinner with our first zucchini of the season (I started them late). We are just getting started, but already I’m making plans to expand for next year. Keep posting Colette. You continuously inspire!
Home grown food is really the very best…supermarket produce can be quite tasteless…keep growing!
Blessings to you Ravenna
from Colette X
Synchronous for me, too! I just bought fabric from a seamstress who’s moving and needs to lessen her supply. We will soon have homemade curtains for our big southern exposure window … as well as wonder boxes (also called wonder ovens), which dramatically reduce fuel needed for cooking. Just wrap the pot of boiling food in the fabric boxes and then let the insulation do the cooking, like an off grid crock pot. Enjoy your harvest!
It sounds a great idea, Laura…thinking outside the box, excuse the pun, haha! This is a good time to sew as the light of the day remains strong but the deep heat of summer is passing! Enjoy your sewing days!
Blessings
Colette X
So inspiring Colette!!!……Please keep the posts coming, I really look forward to them!……And what a coincidence….. I have just bought an old simple electric singer sewing machine (for the grand sum of 25 euros!!). I am hoping to be able to manage to make some lavender wheaty cushions for winter (live up a high mountain in Andalucia…..cold winter nights!!)…..however, am a total klutz so fingers crossed!!…..Loving the gardening tips.You certainly inspired us to plant our fruit trees, just a year ago,little bare rooted twigs….and we have already had apricots, peaches, nectarines and apples!! Thank you!! Xxx
That’s wonderful Sandra…can you email me some pics and a few words to put up on the site?
Blessings X
I have been trying to grow some food in my small back garden, I can manage salad/lettuce and I currently have some yellow courgettes but the problem I have and no matter what I do my lovely cat Gabby cannot resist using my raised beds as litter trays. She will even climb over the netting aahh!! Any ideas I would be so grateful. But despite that you cannot beat the taste of homegrown food, when I had an allotment the variety and flavour was just wonderful.
Maybe too late now, but next planting, spread chicken wire over the earth and plant through it, making some larger holes if necessary. Cats can’t get a grip on the soil that way!
Blessings X
Good idea, she definitely won’t be able to get to the soil that way and I am sure I have a roll kicking around somewhere.
My yard does not get a lot of direct sunlight, but I guess your forest area doesn’t either? Does that present a problem with growing things like tomatoes?
This year I’ve supported local organic producers by buying tomatoes in…a good thing to do and it gets me out to the market once a week! Well, it’s hard to grow everything and a girl’s got to shop! Lol!
Blessings X